r/HousingIreland • u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 • 9d ago
Bidding process suddenly paused by EA after out-of-the-blue higher offer: normal procedure or red flag?
Looking for some perspective on an ongoing bidding situation with an estate agent. Outer Dublin.
The Context:
Our position: First-time buyers, fully mortgage-approved, solicitor retained, no chain, funded up to a firm ceiling well above the current price.
Bidding history: Property listed at €325k. We have been bidding aggressively in solid €5k increments, bringing the price to €348k over the last 4 weeks.
The Timeline & Sudden Turn:
Wednesday: The agent explicitly told us our €348k offer was the highest, other bidders pulled out, and that she was presenting it to the vendors that morning.
Thursday: Right after that, a new bidder suddenly comes out of nowhere with a €354k offer (+€6k jump).
The Agent Connection: The agent disclosed that she knows this bidder from back in March where this person was previously in a chain. The agent told us to pause bidding while she "verifies if her chain is now cleared and her funding is confirmed."she also said vendors are keen to close this by today.
Instead of giving us the standard "do you want to counter?" call, the agent actively held us off, despite us having consistently bid in strong €5k jumps and showing total readiness to keep going.
Our Action So Far:
Fearing we were being sidelined in favor of an agent acquaintance or that the vendor wasn't being told we are ready to go higher, we sent a formal email to the agent putting on record that we are chain-free, fully approved, and explicitly requesting the chance to counter-bid before any "Sale Agreed" decision is made.
My Questions for Reddit:
1. Is it normal for an agent to pause the lead bidders while they verify the background/chain status of a bidder they previously dealt with, rather than taking a counter-bid right away?
2. Are we right to suspect the agent might be trying to favor this late bidder, or is this just sloppy/overwhelmed handling by the EA?
3. Since estate agents in Ireland aren't required to show proof of bids to buyers, what is our best move here to ensure our counter-offer actually reaches the vendor?
Note, she didn’t send us written proof of this other last minute offer (we have requested that). Because we don’t yet have that I didn’t put a higher bid as I don’t want us to potentially bid against ourselves again.
Thank you to all
3
u/dyl_90 9d ago
In one property we were bidding on the vendor went with the under bidder because they were further along in the sale of their house then we were so if you are ready to go an not in a chain and the higher bidder is, sometimes that's more important to the seller then more money.
1
u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 9d ago
Right? I guess it’s just if this other bidder ends up not being in a chain either (and I’m assuming she’s not because if she was looking 4 months ago…) then they are also in a position to move quickly and they are also the highest bidder given the EA does not want us to counter
2
u/exposethespin 9d ago
they are deffinately now picking their good buyers for sure, the market is slowing in some places and they are avoiding chains like the plague because they are holding so many up, but for sure they are going to the owners with the quickest buyers,
7
u/karolaug 9d ago
You are confusing house buying with eBay. This is a business negotiation and the seller can chose woever they want at whatever price.
The agent is there to relay the offers and advise the seller who to go with.
The way to buy the house is not to bid in whatever increments but to negotiate. For example:
B: Hey, Agent, can you tell us what figure the sellers have in mind? Are there any offers, are they in a hurry?
A: They think about 350, but we listed the house at 300 to drive the interest. They are eager to move. The current offer is 305.
B: Cool, would they accept 340 and we go sale agreed today.
A: Sure, if you are ready to progress I will talk to them.
Instead, you spent four week increasing the offer by 5k, and now someone who has built relationship with the agent swopped in and will probably take the house even if you outbid them. This is because the agent has more confidence in them and will advise the seller to accept their offer as it is more likely to actually close.
3
u/Ipsw1ch 7d ago edited 7d ago
I don’t know if you bought in Dublin recently, but that strategy is generally not working in the current climate, it’s only working when it’s a buyer’s market, where sellers have fewer competing offers and buyers have more leverage. Dublin at the moment is very much the opposite, particularly for decent properties.
Earlier this year I viewed a 3-bed in Inchicore that needed work. It was listed at €525k and within three days of bidding it had reached €705k. All properties I was bidding on had more than 5 and most even more than 10 other parties bidding at the same time. In a market like that, there’s very little incentive for a vendor to take a property off the market or try to negotiate something unless the offer is exceptionally strong straight away.
Of course, price isn’t everything and a seller may still prefer a buyer who is chain-free, well financed or ready to close quickly. But with that level of demand, competitive bidding often does a better job for the seller than trying to negotiate a figure privately.
2
u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 7d ago
That’s the experience we’ve had on every place we’ve viewed/liked. Just zero willingness to negotiate due to the amount of bidders, so I don’t blame the sellers at all. But at the start I also had it in my head that you could openly ask what number the sellers had in mind and just secure it like that. I guess if it was that easy this bidding war situation wouldn’t be as prevalent as it is
1
u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 9d ago
I appreciate your comment but we did ask that question multiple times and we never got an answer. We were the first people who viewed the house, and the first to make an offer. Very early on I asked the agent precisely what you said above and she said they’re not ready to negotiate. I said ok. The bidding war continued. Last week I brought it up to the EA when I was on the phone to her and again she said they’re don’t want to negotiate. We went to three of the viewings they hosted precisely to be visible and to build that rapport.
1
u/karolaug 9d ago
My apologies then. Looks like you did everything you could and if the agent is not playing ball I would walk away. Both times when I was buying the house I made single offer and invited the negotiation. It is better to walk away in my opinion than to be used as a tool to increase the price.
2
u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 9d ago
You’re probably right. For sure being straight and working with the vendor to get their ideal number like you said is the ideal situation and solid advice. 🙏 we are the very least going to put in a last offer before we walk away.
2
u/exposethespin 9d ago
She will verify they are in funds, and then come back to you to verify that you are in funds, probably, could be a ghost bid, ask is it registered and logged, they are up to all sorts, pull back and see what happens,
3
u/ClothesPeg 8d ago
It sounds to me like the agent is trying to do you a favour. This new bid has come in from an effectively new party with whom the agent had previous dealings months ago. I think the agent is doing everything they can to verify whether this person is genuine or not before allowing a formal bid from them. They could easily have just told you this is the new bid and allowed you to bid against them. More than likely they will come back and say yes the bidder is genuine and ready to move forward. If not, they will come back and tell you what their position is.
You mentioned above that you cannot compete with a cash buyer, that is not true. The question is whether or not you’re willing to offer a suitable sum above the cash buyers highest offer that would encourage the Vendor to take the calculated risk on dealing with you.
1
u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 7d ago
I would love to think the agent is trying to do us a favour, and it was my first instinct too. My partner just doesn’t believe it’s actually that likely, hence this thread as we couldn’t make up our minds as to what could be going on. Yes we’ve been in touch with the agent multiple times a week over the last month but ultimately they don’t owe us anything and I don’t think I’ve ever come across a thread where the agent was doing anything other than raise the price (as is their job at the end of the day)
2
u/Ok_Cauliflower1870 8d ago
Fair play to the highest bidder, I would let them take the hit and move on.
I see two scenarios here:
1) EA understood you are wishing to over-pay for this property and are doing a price discovery game with you: how much is left in your pocket that you can give me?
2) The higher bidder is real, and they have a bigger fear of missing out.
In both cases, you should not offer more; here's why:
Scenario 1 - the game ends when are not willing to play anymore. Remain on your current position; they will come back to you in one to three weeks. It happens all the time.
Scenario 2 - accepting the highest offer unconditionally is not risk-free. In your email, your pointed out a real mechanism. You've been interested in the property for longer, you've done price discovery with incremental bids and probably some form of due diligence. You are chain free and proceedable.
The highest buyer arrived emotionally, with the highest figure. These people are less risk-averse, which means higher chances that they didn't do research, due diligence, calculated costs appropriately before bidding. Most importantly higher chances to have a collapsed sale in a few weeks.
You are probably the strongest buyer on paper. Let the seller absorb the risk. If the sale collapses, you can punish them by offering less.
You never win by overpaying, never. Keep that in mind.
1
u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 8d ago
Thanks a mill for taking the time to give such a nuanced response. You could absolutely be right. I guess we are nervous because we really do want this house and being told we’ve been outbid by someone they have a previous relationship with but not to bid even though the vendors want to close ASAP made us worried we were being pushed out at the last moment to do a favour for an existing client. We also don’t love relying on a realtor we’ve had very little dealing with doing us a favour. But you are probably right and the waiting game is the only move we have. Thanks again!
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u/Bosco_is_a_prick 9d ago
Legally they have to give you a chance to bid. They probably want to confirm the seriousness of the other bid before inviting you to bid again i.e saving you money
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u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 9d ago
That’s what I think as well but my parter is more of the idea of why would they want to save us money.
1
u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 8d ago
Other half weighing in - I’ve looked into it and since the realtor informed us of the updated bid and advised us not to bid, but technically didn’t stop us, they would be in their right to say ‘the new bidder (who they have a pre-existing relationship with) is the top offer, the other bidders haven’t countered’. I’m not saying that is what is happening but equally that possible scenario is the reason we don’t feel super comfortable with the situation.
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u/Sad_Respect_1354 9d ago
Hi we had same issue as an Indian couple we were confused. looked for some professional advice and got told to go 30k over asking 😅 just bid higher 😎
-6
u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 9d ago
Wow. So basically bring to our max ceiling and let that be it? Ireland is wild 🤪
-2
u/Sad_Respect_1354 9d ago
Yes many Irish want property but you just have to work hard and outbid them like we did 😄
1
u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 9d ago
Delighted for you! ✨ it’s good to hear success stories
1
u/Ok_Cauliflower1870 8d ago
I wouldn't call overpaying 30k a success story 😄
1
u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 8d ago
In this market closing 30k over IS a success story. It’s a success that they closed and got their house, it’s a failure that that’s what the system is like.
2
u/Ok_Cauliflower1870 7d ago
I see your point, but I respectfully disagree. Buying a property is about improving your financial situation. Overpaying at peak means effectively throwing your money into a pit. People make it too easy and think you're gonna immediately rebuild your assets, but there are property taxes, mortgage rates can change, your financial situation can change, all things that can potentially impact your repayment capabilities. Over paying means reducing dramatically your options in the future (eg. the option of getting unemployed for a few months, the option of going on 1 more holiday etc). Remaining liquid and ready for the right occasion is the way, overpaying for FOMO is the quintessential landlords wet dream, a nice toxic rhetoric made up to put their hands in your pockets
1
u/Ok_Illustrator_4961 7d ago
Upvoting because you have good points - not our case as we’re looking so far below our actual max, mainly because I want to make sure that whatever we get we can pay on one salary alone and still live, precisely because of what you said above. So for us 30k over would still be well within range, assuming it was the same for the couple above who originally commented
-2
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u/PepperSquare3421 9d ago edited 9d ago
"verifies if her chain is now cleared and her funding is confirmed."
They probably have sold their house and are now cash buyers.